1. Bucharest - 07/05/2009 2009: A New Strategy in a Crisis Year National Conference dedicated to SMEs Financing 3 rd edition 2009 Dr. Stylianos Mavromoustakos Executive Director, Intercollege Vice President, EfVET

2. Bucharest - 07/05/2009 SME Research in 2008 among 204 SME in 6 countries (Italy, England, Greece, Cyprus, Lithuania and Spain) Key Results: 54.7% of Managers/Senior Employees do not participate in decision making as to innovation 73.6% of SME’s do not have an innovation department in decision making 59.4% of product ideas do not come from customers Most important hurdles/obstacles - Lack of money: 42.7% - Lack of time: 41.1%

3. Bucharest - 07/05/2009 Continue… 36.6% perceive resistance to change 59.8% do not perceive that government institutions are supporting them Only 52% know about EU Funding 64.1% never applied for public funding and 38.3% will not apply in the future 53.2% do not co-operate with Universities/Tertiary Institutions

4. Bucharest - 07/05/2009 Creativity and Innovation for SMEs Estimation for 2002 (US): more closures of SMEs with employees (584,500) than start ups (550,100) Businesses with fewer than 20 employees have a 37% chance to survive the first 4 years and only 9% survive the first 10 years Educators can contribute to develop innovation management programs for SMEs (differentiated by age, size and educational background) (Gray, 2006) Educational Entrepreneurship programs help 85% of the graduates having started new ventures for at least 2 years Entrepreneurship programs contribute to increase SME formation rates by 30 times

5. Bucharest - 07/05/2009 Innovative organizations Encourage ideas – inside and outside In line with customer needs Develop a creative environment Select and implement best ideas Improve productivity And profitability

6. Bucharest - 07/05/2009 Looking at the bigger picture Technology Competition New entrants Flexible Structures Knowledge base Changing customer needs

7. Bucharest - 07/05/2009 The external environment Political Economic Social/Cultural Technological Legal Environmental/Ecological Competitive

8. Bucharest - 07/05/2009 Identifying growth opportunities Can you attract more repeat business? Can you convert more leads to sales? Are there other products or services which could be of interest to your customers? What new business opportunities (deriving from the external environment) can you find?

9. Bucharest - 07/05/2009 SMEs in EU 99% of Europe’s companies are SMEs Two – thirds of employees are employed by SMEs SMEs are almost synonyms with the European Union Recent enlargement of EU has resulted in different levels and approaches across Europe Rapid changes in Information and Communication Technologies

10. Bucharest - 07/05/2009 Contact Details Intercollege IBS Romania: 31A Economu Cyprus: 46, Makedonitissas Ave.Cezarescu P.O.BOX 24005,1700 NicosiaStreet, Sector 6, Bucharest Tel.:+357 22 841 579Tel:+40 31 425 36 63 Fax:+357 22 352 057Fax:+40 31 425 36 62 E-mail: mavromoustakos.s@intercollege.ac.cy E-mail: IBS.ro@intercollege.ac.cymavromoustakos.s@intercollege.ac.cyIBS.ro@intercollege.ac.cy www.intercollege.ac.cywww.intercollege.ac.cy www.intercollegeibs.rowww.intercollegeibs.ro